Victorian decorating

[DixieLandReject]

I have just bought a Victorian cottage and am looking for inspiration for doing it up. It needs a quite a bit of work but can only afford to do the kitchen and a bit of decorating for the moment.

I've been looking at various websites at lovely floral wallpapers and chandeliers.

Has anyone bought a house of this type and tried to sympathetically decorate? Any tips on where to look? I'd love to see some photos of living rooms and kitchens for inspiration.

Jim Lawrence is very good for lamps and lanterns which sit well in older houses. Not cheap but perhaps worth the splurge as it as this is the first space you see on coming into the house.

Agree with not spending too much on a rug (if your children & pets are as messy as mine) TKMaxx, Dunelm, IKEA etc

It's very exciting, just wish we had the money to do what we wanted. I think it's going to be a Labour of love over many years! We have over borrowed on the mortgage, for a new kitchen but the space is quite awkward really, it's a fairly large room but hardly any space for work surfaces. There's a company a few miles away that specialise in handmade kitchens so I'm hoping they will be able to make best use of the space.

I'd rather spend what we have got on the kitchen and do everything else as we go along I think.

The Ava glass pendent light looks beautiful!

I'm up against it a bit with DP, he would have been happy in a new build box the oldest property he's lived in is 1980s. He tends to think practically and would have no qualms in buying all the furniture from Argos or Next

We are currently using his bachelor pad black leather sofa until we decide on a new one and he can't understand why we can't just keep that ha ha

I have never used it but believe amtico flooring is expensive so if you don’t go down the route that leaves you the money for decor and other things 😊

And yes to Jim Lawrence, not cheap but every time I look at my Jim Lawrence antique brass lights I am so glad I got them. I love them. They push their luck with postage costs though I think. They never discount or have promo codes. Pooky are great too especially when they have discount periods. They have some stunning lights - their pumpkin light is really pretty and casts beautiful patterned light around a room. They also do a star lantern that would look fabulous in your hallway.

Jim Lawrence are great for door furniture, but as PPs have said, it's never a steal, although it's all solid and well made so buy once, carefully.

Thank you so much @DixieLandReject and @WildCherryBlossom 😊

Your hall looks lovely and full of potential @DixieLandReject - it's going to be so exciting bringing it back to life with colour and pattern etc!

I've been searching for a before pic of our snug panelled wall to illustrate just how awful and characterless it was (for a 400 year old house!), but the only one I have is on my Instagram and I can't see how to share that here. So I'm instead adding one of the opposite wall where the fireplace with Voysey wallpaper is now.

Before....

And after.....

Just a little suggestion, if you have lime plaster and have any signs of damp where you have wallpaper at present I'd get the paper off back to the plaster and go for breathable paint, relying on curtains and furnishings for my patterns. Save the papers for walls that are naturally bone dry and modern gypsum plaster.

Thanks for that- we're putting oak parquet in throughout downstairs, and I've used Tung oil before, as I hate polyeurathane and the other varnishes (they always scratch) but the makers of the parquet sell osmo- I saw a test on youtube and it seems not to darken the wood as much as Tung oil- the only downside of the Tung. I wonderd how it coped with mopping, as we're doing the kitchen in parquet.

Osmo is great @BlueMongoose you can get different colours. We've played around with it over the years. We make up a mix of about 2/3 clear with 1/3 a whiteish tone to lighten up the space. (The tins are packed away in the attic so I can't tell you which right now). I would take the recommendation from the floor suppliers on which one would be the most suitable.

You can get William Morris washable rugs I think. I love the quarry tiles abs I'd be loath to get rid....

I don't think quarry tiles will ever be my fave but the rug/ runner and saving money for other, much needed, areas is definitely convincing me!

With it being the first area that is seen, I really want it to look homely and warming but, as per the suggestions above, this can be done with lighting, rugs and maybe a small table.

Thank you again for the advice, it's decided me to go for it. I was only havering because I didn't know anyone who had used it in their own house, esp in a kitchen.

@LibertyLily Sorry to resurrect on and old thread, but these photos took my breath away? Is this your work?